Collecting Cleveland Indians Topps team sets from 1952-present, as well as post-war minor and major league autographs.
Jerome Williams was a very good pitching prospect. He was the Giant’s #1 prospect in both 2001 and 2002, and their #3 prospect in 2003. He made the majors in 2003 with the Giants and he held his own, going 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA/1.260 WHIP. But he struggled in[…]
Not that I need another Travis Hafner autograph, but this card was too nice to pass up. The Indians traded Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese to the Rangers for Travis Hafner in 2002. It was a very good trade. Never forget how amazing Hafner was from 2004-2007: .296/.410/.567 with an[…]
The Philadelphia Phillies drafted outfielder Anthony Gose 51st overall in the 2008 MLB Draft. He was a good prospect and was included in a couple of reasonably high profile trades that saw him go to the Astros in 2010 (part of a package for Roy Oswalt), the Blues Jays later[…]
Back in 2002, the Indians sent 1B Russel Branyan to the Reds for 1B Ben Broussard. I guess it’s not a great deal for the Indians if you are just counting career WAR (11.2 for Branyan, 4 for Broussard), but Broussard would have a very solid four-year run with[…]
In 2005 Rich Harden went 10-5 with a 2.53 ERA/1.063 WHIP over 128 innings for the Oakland Athletics. He struck out 121 and only walked 43. It was the second strong season in a row for the 23-year old Canadian, and he looked like yet another ace for the[…]
Mark Buehrle was a great pitcher. He did not quite have a Hall of Fame career, but it was still pretty great. In his 16-seasons in the majors, he only had an OPS+ under 100 twice. He led the league in innings twice and averaged 221 innings over his career.[…]
Ryan Garko was always great hitter. He hit .350/.446/.591 during his four years at Stanford–including .380 his senior season. Despite his terrible glove, the Indians took him in the 3rd round of the 2003 draft. In 2004 he hit .330/.412/.565 between three levels, and was the Indians MiLB Player of[…]
Josh Hader is a really good closer. Last season he pitched 75.2 innings for the Brewers, and only allowed 41 hits while striking out 138. Good for an 2.62 ERA/170 ERA+. He also got his second All-Star team selection. Standard Pitching Year Age Tm W L ERA G GF SV[…]
I don’t much care for the Yankees. But I do like Aaron Judge. Even though he was a first-round pick by the Yankees in 2013 (32nd overall), I don’t think anyone was expecting THIS kind of production.
Despite that year with the Cubs…I really like Ben Zobrist. He has had a really great career and easily one of the more interesting players of the 2000s. Drafted in the 6th round by the Houston Astros in 2004 He was Top 20 prospect with the Astros, who thought that[…]